Self-lubricating wheel.



PATENTED JULY 11, 1905.

S. G. PORTER.

SELF LUBRIGATING WHEEL.

No. 794,640. T

Patented July 11, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL G. PORTER, OF VICTOR, COLORADO.

SELF-LUBRICATING WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,640, dated July 11, 1905.

I Application filed April 12, 1904. $Brial1l0- 202,818.

To all "whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL G. PORTER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Victor, in the county of Teller and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Lubricating Wheels; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in self-lubricating wheels, and is more especially intended for use in connection with the wheels of tram-cars used in mines or elsewhere. The work incident to the use of cars of this character requires that the said cars shall be stopped at comparatively short intervals of time; and my object is to provide a construction whereby every time the car is stopped a portion of the lubricating material contained in a cup located in a ortion of the wheel above the journal shal drain down through an orifice to the journal. In this way the journal is kept thoroughly lubricated and at the same time there is no excessive waste of oil or lubricating material, as the oil thus delivered to the ournal will divide. One-half or a portion of it will work outwardly toward the extremity of the jour-,

nal and the portion not adhering to the latter will fall downwardly into the oil-chamber, while only that portion which works in the opposite direction on the journal or toward the body of the axle will be wasted.

Having briefly outlined my improved con struction, as well as the function it is intended to subserve, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through a carwheel equipped with my. improvements. Fig. 2 is a face view of the same with the cap partly broken away.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in both the views.

Let A designate the car-axle, and A the journal of the car-wheel B. The outer face of this wheel is provided with a number of cups B, from which lead orifices B to the outer surface of the wheel-journal A. Be yond the cups or chambers B is located a threaded offset or shoulder B upon which is screwed a cap B which is cup-shaped and extends outwardly beyond the outer extrem ity of the axle A, thus concealing the latter and forming a receptacle B for the lubricating material. In this cap is formed a number of orifices B, which form inlets for the lubricating material and also form openings for the prongs or projections of a wrench employed in applying and removing the said cap. When a wheel of'this character is in use, if the car is traveling slowly the lubricating material C in the chamber B is constantly carried upwardly by adhesion from the body of the material which willnaturally occupy the lowest position in the chamber 13", and when moving fast the oil will be carried to the outer edge of the chamber B by centrifugal force, and every time the wheel is stopped the lubricating material will drain downwardly from the portion of the wheels of the chamber B above into the uppermost cup B and thence pass through the corresponding orifice B to the outer surface of the journal A, while all of the lubricating material that passes outside of this cup will drain downwardly into the body O of the lubricating material. It is estimated that a construction of this character, while automatically supplying the journal with the necessary quantity of lubricating material, will at the same time prevent any undue loss of lubricating material. Theprotruding extremity of the ournal A is provided with a pin A adapted to hold the wheel in place on the journal and prevent its outward movement thereon.

Attention is called to the fact that while a pin A is shown for securing the wheel to the journal any other suitable means may be employed for performing this function. Furthermore, while the cap is shown screwed to the wheel it is evident'that other means, if desired, may be employed for holding the cap in place without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A car-wheel provided with a cap surrounding the outer extremity of the axle and forming an oil-chamber, the said wheel having a number of cup-shaped cavities 01' recesses formed in its outer face and having individual orifices leading from the bottom of the cavities through the hub of the wheel to the outer surface of the axle-journal, the said cups having relatively wide-open mouths whose walls extend inwardly from the cap toward the axis of the wheel, the said mouths being widest at their extremities adjacent the cap, and decreasing in width toward the axle the bottoms of the cups extending below the lowest parts of the mouths whereby the uppermost cup is adapted to hold a small quantity of oil when the wheel is at rest, the comparatively large area of the mouth of each cup, causing a considerable quantity of oil to drain into the uppermost cup when the wheel is at rest.

2. The combination with an axle-journal, of a wheel mounted thereon and having a number of recesses or cavities circularly disposed in the outer face of the wheel and around the hub thereof and having orifices leading from the individual recesses to the outer surface of the journal, the said cavities having comparatively large open mouths whose walls extend inwardly and toward the axis of the wheel, the bottom of each cavity being slightly below or nearer the axis of the wheel than the corresponding part of the mouth whereby the uppermost cavity is adapted to hold a small quantity of oil when the wheel is at rest, the said orifices leading from the bottoms of the said cavities.

3. A car-wheel provided with a journalopening in its hub, the outer face of the wheel around the hub being provided with a number of distinct and separate recesses or cavities, from each of which leads an orifice communicating with the wall of the journalopening in the hub of the wheel for the purpose set forth, the said cavities having wide- 0 en mouths on the outer face of the wheel, t e walls of the cavities extending inwardly from the plane of the wheel-face and toward the axis of the wheel, the bottomof each cavity being below the bottom of the mouth of the cavity when the latter is uppermost whereby the cavity is adapted to hold a small quantity of oil, the wall beyond the said recesses or cavities being provided with a threaded offset, and a cap screwed upon this offset and extending beyond the outer extremity of the wheel-hub, the said cap being provided with orifices for the introduction of lubricating material to the chamber inclosed by the cap, the outer extremities of the said recesses or cavities being adjacent the cap, these outer extremities of the mouths being widest, the latter decreasing in size as they approach the axis of the wheel.

4. The combination with an axle and jour" nal, of a car-wheel engaging the journal and having a number of distinct and separate cavities or recesses formed in its outer surface around the hub, the said cavities having wideopen mouths on the face of the wheel, the walls of the cavities extending inwardly from the face of the wheel and toward the axis of the latter, the bottom of each cavity being nearer the axis of the wheel than the lowest part of the mouth when the cavity is uppermost whereby the cavity is adapted to hold a small quantity of lubricant, and orifices leading from the said cavities to the outer surface of the journal, and a cap screwed upon the threaded offset withwhich the outer face of the wheel is provided, the said cap extending outwardly beyond the outer extremity of the journal and being provided with orifices, the outer extremities of the mouths of the cavities being located adjacent the walls of the cap where the latter joins the wheel, the said mouths being widest at their outer extremities and decreasing in size as they approach the wheel-axis.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL G. PORTER.

Witnesses:

DENA NELSON, A. J. OBRIEN. 

